(Sandy Giordano/Beaver County Radio)

Nora Lemon and Karma Jackson were sworn in as Aliquippa’s newest members of City Council at last night’s city council meeting, the first of the new year. Beaver County Radio news correspondent Sandy Giordano reports that the two women were sworn in by Beaver County Common Pleas Court Judge Mitch Shahen.

Mayor Dwan B. Walker, Councilman Donald Walker, and City Treasurer Lynne Kakiou were sworn in as re-elected officials for 2024. Kakiou will also serve as delinquent tax collector for Aliquippa, with Delphine Gilliam as her assistant. Mayor Walker said that a main focus for 2024 will be to watch finances as the city enters its first year without Act 47 designation.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

It may be a new year, but so far the downward trend of gas prices has stayed the same. According to AAA East Central’s latest report, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline is down to $3.41. That average is down from last week’s average of $3.44 by three cents, and down a full 30 cents from the average of $3.71 one year ago.

Beaver County takes a downward trend this week, dropping four cents from $3.50/gallon to $3.46/gallon. Butler drops one cent to $3.43/gallon, as does the Pittsburgh area who now sits at an average of $3.46.

The national average is currently at $3.10 according to AAA East Central, 31 cents below the regional average.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                          $3.414
Average price during the week of December 26, 2023                                       $3.435
Average price during the week of January 3, 2023                                              $3.712

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:      

$3.248      Altoona
$3.461      Beaver
$3.638      Bradford
$3.378      Brookville
$3.427      Butler
$3.390      Clarion
$3.298      DuBois
$3.295      Erie
$3.481      Greensburg
$3.456      Indiana
$3.436      Jeannette
$3.649      Kittanning
$3.453      Latrobe
$3.294      Meadville
$3.419      Mercer
$3.146      New Castle
$3.453      New Kensington
$3.385      Oil City
$3.464      Pittsburgh
$3.309      Sharon
$3.407      Uniontown
$3.599      Warren
$3.428      Washington

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Congressman Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania’s 17th District has put his name on a growing list of politicians nationwide showcasing their concern over the acquisition of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel of Japan. On Wednesday, Deluzio joined the Congressional Labor Caucus Co-Chairs and other members of Congress in creating a letter to the Biden Administration for a full comprehensive regulatory review of the acquisition.

“Domestic steel production is crucial to the U.S. economy, including by supporting tens of thousands of well-paying, middle-class jobs across the country, as well as being key to the U.S. industrial base and our global competitiveness. To preserve U.S. domestic steel production capacity and to ensure that steel production jobs remain good jobs going forward, it is critical that any company that acquires U.S. Steel commits to respecting and working collaboratively with the company’s workforce,” the Members wrote in a letter to President Biden.

The letter was written by a bipartisan group of 53 members of Congress.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

At a very quick Commissioners’ work session to begin 2024, Public Works Director Dan Colville was congratulated on the completion of the newly installed parking lot located in between the Beaver County Courthouse and Market Street in Beaver. The last thing to add to the lot are additional signs that Colville states are on the way.

Meanwhile, EMS director Eric Brewer gave the Commissioners an update on the hiring process for a pair of open positions on his staff. Sixty of the eighty applicants took an at-home skills test in regards to handling emergency responses; of the sixty, twenty-six will sit down with Brewer and his current administration for interviews along with a second test.

Brewer stated that the recent raise in rates for the positions may have played a role into the strong amount of applications submitted; he also mentioned that the positions are not restricted to being held by county residents.

The next Commissioners’ work session is scheduled for January 10, 2024 at 10:00 AM.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Former gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano is facing a new legal challenge from fellow Pennsylvania senator Art Haywood, who yesterday held a press conference to announce that he is filing an ethics complaint against Mastriano for what he considers to be efforts to delegitimize the 2020 Presidential Election Results.

Haywood claims that Mastriano used his position as State Senator to conduct a hearing containing unsworn testimony that has since been proven false, and accused Mastriano of organizing and/or attending several rallies that were designed to potentially overturn the 2020 Election results–the most notable of which was the infamous gathering that took place on January 6, 2021.

Haywood made the announcement yesterday joined by members of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, also known as CREW.

Mastriano has not responded to these complaints as of now.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Armando Bacot spent the last three seasons watching North Carolina let winnable games against Pittsburgh slip away.

The longtime Tar Heels center took it personally. So, apparently, did his team.

Bacot scored 16 points to become the seventh player in program history to reach 2,000 in his career, RJ Davis added 15 and No. 8 North Carolina bullied its way past Pittsburgh 70-57 on Tuesday night.

The Tar Heels (10-3, 2-0 ACC) used Davis’ shot-making and the inside presence of Bacot and Harrison Ingram to outmuscle the Panthers (9-5, 0-3). North Carolina outrebounded Pitt 51-41 and had a 15-1 advantage in second-chance points to beat the Panthers for just the second time in their last seven meetings.

The Tar Heels have won three straight since competitive back-to-back losses to Connecticut and Kentucky, and they showed against Pitt they can play with a rugged edge they may have lacked a few weeks ago.

“We’re trying to take every game serious and not take anything for granted,” Bacot said. “That’s what we’re trying to do this year, take it game by game and not look forward.”

Bub Carrington led the Panthers with 20 points and Jaland Lowe added 10, but senior forward Blake Hinson was held to 11 points — eight below his average — on 4-of-16 shooting as Pitt lost its second straight.

While the Panthers did a decent job of slowing down the Tar Heels while holding them to a season-low point total, Pitt didn’t make enough shots and was pushed around in the lane at times by a decidedly wider and more experienced North Carolina frontcourt.

“I thought we were tough,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. “I thought we competed. The game was very physical. When we’re moving off the ball and cutting, we have to be able to fight through it. … We have to adjust.”

Davis gave the Tar Heels the lead for good with a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer and North Carolina simply wore down the Panthers over the final 20 minutes. There was no big run, just a steady smothering of Pitt on defense and enough shot-making to win comfortably in a series that’s been defined by tight finishes of late.

Not this time. The Panthers could muster little offense outside of Carrington and Lowe in the second half as Hinson misfired and twin centers Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham had trouble defensively against the stronger Tar Heels.

Bacot effectively ended things with a putback dunk with 3:41 to play and added a pair of free throws shortly thereafter to reach 2,000 points. He now sits at 2,003, four behind Charlie Scott for sixth on the school’s career list.

While Bacot called it a “huge accomplishment,” he added he has far bigger things on his mind and he isn’t keeping tabs on his rise up the ranks.

“I’m not counting too much,” Bacot said. “The only thing I’m (aiming for) is a championship. I’ll count the championships and the awards, but the stats I won’t keep track of.”